


A Little Rebellion (Is Good for the Soul)

by perfectly_inept



Category: Anne with an E (TV)
Genre: F/M, Fights, Fluff and Angst, Kissing, Meeting the Parents, Teenage Rebellion, True Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-21
Updated: 2019-10-21
Packaged: 2020-12-27 18:51:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,285
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21123557
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/perfectly_inept/pseuds/perfectly_inept
Summary: So Jerry sat with the four Barry’s at their very fancy table. With very fancy food. And very fancy dishes. And very fancy napkins. And he felt completely out of place.-Or Jerry meets the Barry Parents and he and Diana have their first fight.





	A Little Rebellion (Is Good for the Soul)

**Author's Note:**

> this wasn’t beta’d - all mistakes are my own.
> 
> Also posted on my tumblr findingfandomwithafangirl 
> 
> let me know what y’all think
> 
> also the styling is weird, I know, it’s purposeful

It’s about a month after the ‘sprained’ ankle incident  
Jerry and Diana are in what seems like a real relationship  
Diana visits him at the Cuthbert farm often  
Anne knows about the budding romance and teases Diana about it endlessly  
She also constantly wonders what Diana could possibly see in Jerry of all people  
Jerry shares books with Diana  
Diana bakes him food and gives him little tokens of affection  
Sometimes Diana will just sit in the barn and speak french with him as Jerry works  
Jerry is head over heels for her  
Eventually he wants Diana to meet his family again  
This time as a girl he’s courting though  
He doesn’t really know how to ask her though  
He’s worried to come off too strong   
Even though he truly believes he’s in love with her  
He ends up just inviting her over for dinner, not mentioning the courting or romance of the night  
Diana manages to sneak out and the two of them have a lovely night  
They dance again  
Diana attempts to hide their relationship a bit from the Baynard parents  
But Mr. Baynard makes a subtle joke letting her know that the family is aware   
Jerry only talks about her constantly  
Diana seems relieved by this  
She doesn’t worry anymore when she dances with Jerry  
Or when she asks him to walk her home  
Or when she holds his hand as they leave the Baynard house  
And even though she already knew no one was watching, she still doesn’t worry when she pecks him on the cheek when they arrive at her house  
Jerry freezes after that  
It takes him a full minute to move again and start the long journey home  
Later that week Diana is complaining about her mother  
“Anne said it was her favorite book so of course I read it.”  
She tells Jerry  
“And I loved it, Jane is such a powerful character. My mother noticed the book on my bedside table and went mad.”  
Jane Erye is, according to Diana’s mother, a reckless story with a vulgar, improper, and anti-christian heroine.  
“Isn’t that just like her?”  
Diana asks  
Jerry stays silent  
“Jerry?”  
“Sorry”  
He explains  
“It’s only, I do not know. I still have only met her once.”  
Diana can hear the question   
She knows he won’t actually ask  
He knows he’s not the kind of boy she’s supposed to be with  
But Diana still hears it  
She still hears the silent insistence  
‘You’ve met my family, when can I met yours?’  
That’s when Diana makes the decision.  
She leaves the Cuthbert farm with a new resolve that evening.  
The next day she stops Jerry as he was leaving the farm.  
“Walk me home?”  
She asks  
Jerry looks at her curiously  
She should be home already by now  
But he’s never refuse her  
So Jerry walks Diana home  
He stops where they usually do, much before the door of the house  
Diana keeps walking  
“Aren’t you coming?”  
She asks  
“Tu veux quoi?”  
Jerry replies  
“I want you to meet my family. Join us for dinner.”  
Jerry is hesitant  
He knows the Barry’s will not approve  
He doesn’t want to lose Diana for this  
But he still can’t refuse her  
And that’s how Jerry Baynard ends up inside the Barry house for dinner  
He’s not even dressed in nice clothes  
(Not that he has many ‘nice’ clothes)  
But he’s still wearing the jacket he wore to work that morning  
Mrs. Barry seemed surprised by his arrival  
But she didn’t say anything  
Not at first anyway  
So Jerry sat with the four Barry’s at a very fancy table  
With very fancy food  
And very fancy dishes  
And very fancy napkins  
Feeling completely out of place  
Mrs. Barry attempts to make conversation but it is terribly awkward  
Minnie May ask Diana if Jerry was her suiter  
And Mrs. Barry answered before Diana could  
“Now don’t be absurd.”  
Jerry paled  
He knew that would happen  
He wasn’t rich  
He didn’t have very fancy things  
He wasn’t the one Diana would be with in the end  
He knew that  
But it still hurt to be reminded  
Diana cleared her throat  
“Actually, mother, Jerry and I have been courting of sorts.”  
Jerry thinks Mrs. Barry might actually pass out  
Mr. Barry turns red  
Jerry thinks Mr. Barry might want to punch him  
Mr. Barry goes to stand, but Mrs. Barry stops him.  
She takes a deep breath  
“Diana, come to the other room. We must speak.”  
Diana and the Barry parents leave  
Jerry is sat alone with Minnie May  
He feels sick  
And the Barry house is huge  
Obscenely so  
So Jerry assumed the Barry Parents and Diana would have gone far enough away that he wouldn’t be able to hear them  
But he was wrong  
Jerry Baynard sat in a strange house and listened to the parents of the girl he loved explain to her why he was unfit for her  
Which hurt  
But it hurt even more when he heard the girl he loved reply  
“Why the all of the sudden rebellion?”  
Mrs. Barry had asked  
And Diana said  
“I want to know what it’s like to be free. Normal.”  
Jerry really thought he’d be sick then  
Minnie May looked at Jerry and said possibly the only thing that would make him feel worse  
“Don’t worry, mama says this is just one of Diana’s phases. It’ll be over soon.”  
It will be, won’t it?  
Jerry thought  
He left  
He knew it was impolite  
He knew he should thank the Barry’s for their hospitality  
But instead he quickly left the very fancy house  
And ran home to the small but familiar and comfortable building her called his home  
The next day he went to work at the Cuthbert farm  
Because he had to work  
And he prayed he wouldn’t see Diana  
But of course she would show up there after school  
Of course she would  
Even though Jerry was certain her parents probably forbade her from seeing him  
“I’m sorry about last night.”  
She said when she found him in the barn  
“Do not worry about it.”  
Jerry isn’t trying to seem harsh  
Or maybe he is  
He doesn’t know how to feel  
But he does know it hurts to look at Diana  
“I knew they wouldn’t approve but I thought… If you were there… Maybe they’d be polite.”  
Something inside of Jerry burns at that  
“They shouldn’t worry about me.”  
He knows he’s going to regret it  
He knows he should shut up  
But something pushes him to continue  
“I’m only a phase, are I not?”  
And Diana looks so hurt  
And Jerry immediately wants to swallow those words  
But he also knows that they hold some truth  
Because Diana doesn’t contradict him  
She doesn’t try to defend herself  
She puts her head down  
Jerry thinks maybe she’s crying  
She takes a minute  
And then she replies  
Softly  
Jerry almost doesn’t hear her  
“You are a rebellion, Jerry. But you were never a phase.”  
And then she stands  
Collects her things  
And leaves  
And Jerry doesn’t run after her  
He knows that this is an important moment  
Maybe it’s the last time he’ll ever talk to Diana  
Maybe it’s just their first fight and they’ll resolve it  
Maybe they’ll be awkward towards each other from now on  
Maybe he see her years later at Anne’s wedding  
Maybe he’ll meet her fiance  
Maybe she’ll save him a dance  
Jerry realizes all of these possibilities  
But at the moment  
The only thing he can manage to do is to keep working  
Keep shoveling hay  
Try and not to think about it  
Because Jerry couldn’t start crying  
Not now  
Not today  
Not over her


End file.
